1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a male connector having an electrical shock prevention measure and a connector apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known connector apparatus for supplying electric power to equipment mounted on an electric car has male and female connectors that can be connected to one another. The male connector is mounted on a case for the equipment and the female connector is connected to electric wires of a wire harness. The equipment-side male connector has two male terminal fittings is mounted in a housing. The housing has a tube that surrounds the periphery of the male terminal fittings. The front of the tube is open to receive a fit-on part of the electric wire-side female connector. Thus, the male terminal fittings of the equipment-side male connector are exposed to the outside when the male and female connectors are separated for maintenance.
An electric circuit for power is accommodated inside the equipment mounted on the electric car. In dependence on an operational state of the electric circuit, the male terminal fitting is in a charged state. Thus when the female connector is removed from the male connector, there is a fear that an operator carelessly touches the male terminal fitting and receives an electrical shock.
JP 2002-56919 proposes a connector to cope with the above-described problem. The connector of JP 2002-56919 has a prevention rib that projects from the inner surface of the tube that surrounds the male terminal fitting. The prevention rib is intended to prevent a finger from entering the gap between the tube and the male terminal fitting. However, the connector of JP 2002-56919 also must have a groove on the peripheral surface of the fit-on part of the mating connector to avoid interference between the fit-on part and the prevention rib. Consequently the fit-on part has a complicated construction or the connector is large due to a spatial restriction. The conventional construction shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 of JP 2002-56919 also has an insulator made of resin mounted on the front end of the male terminal fitting. The insulator may be removed from the front end of the connector when foreign matter strikes the insulator strongly. Thus the construction is unreliable.
The invention has been made in view of the above-described situation. It is an object of the invention to provide a compact male connector and connector apparatus that can prevent a finger of an operator from contacting a male terminal fitting for reliably preventing the finger from receiving an electrical shock.